Marketing and CommunicationsFull-TimeMid-level(3-5 yrs)
Job Description
GiveDirectly is the first and largest nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest. We believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives—cash enables that choice.
Role Summary
This position will be responsible for pitching GiveDirectly programs and research to key media and thought leaders, reporting directly to the Senior Manager of Media and Strategic Communications. This person will be pitching traditional media and supporting GiveDirectly’s surrogate strategy—cultivating relationships with public intellectuals, newsletter writers, podcasters, and other content creators who can serve as credible, independent advocates for cash transfers to high-value audiences. It is a role that spans lead generation research, writing pitches, prepping spokespeople, and tracking progress over time.
In addition, this person will help build the infrastructure that makes the team smarter and faster. This includes maintaining and improving internal systems and being the in-team expert on AI-powered tools and automation.
Key Qualities
Execution: Have high accountability to outcomes (quantitative and qualitative) while balancing attention to detail with short timelines.
Details: Deliver high-quality communications products to both internal and external stakeholders.
Narrative: Hold a high bar for what’s interesting to journalists and public audiences, never sending things that smell like "PR" or AI-generated spam.
Curiosity: Stay on top of emerging media trends and AI capabilities—always looking for a better way to achieve outcomes or improve understanding of direct cash aid through earned media.
Responsibilities
Media Pitching & Placement
Pitch Across All Contexts: Support media pitching and surrogate engagement across GiveDirectly's core work—rapid-response emergency cash moments, new research, and innovative programs. This includes traditional and non-traditional outlets (newsletters, podcasts, YouTubers, public intellectuals) whose audiences overlap with donor targets.
Build and Manage Relationships: Develop ongoing relationships with journalists, editors, producers, and thought leaders—including coordinating media visits with in-country teams.
Track from Pitch to Placement: Work with the wider Marketing team to package GiveDirectly's work into angles that break through editorially. Keep stakeholders informed at every stage; update status and flag risks early.
Media Research and Analysis
Reporter Research and Prospecting: Research the background of traditional and new media reporters and surrogates—especially in the prospecting phase—to ensure pitches break through and match up with their personal stakes and editorial interests.
Donor Media Research: Conduct ongoing research on media outlets consumed by GiveDirectly’s donors and targets—gaining a deeper knowledge of each outlet’s editorial voice, content patterns, and how GD’s story best fits.
Media Monitoring: Read key newsletters, verticals, and media sources regularly; share roundups and flag opportunities with the broader communications team; build AI tools that make this scalable and fast.
Internal Systems and Team Support
AI and Automation: Provide deep support to the team’s AI and automation toolkit—identify ways to streamline repetitive work, stay current on emerging tools, and be able to pilot new workflows with manager guidance that make the communications team faster and smarter (Note: GiveDirectly works on Claude).
Coverage Tracking: Log, monitor, and analyze coverage in Airtable; ensure the system is a reliable, up-to-date source of truth for media activity so senior leadership knows the status of GiveDirectly's pipeline and can easily find relevant materials.
Pipeline Management: Keep the media and outreach pipeline clean in Salesforce—making sure outlets, reporters, and prospects are in the system correctly, that leads don’t get lost or stale, and that statuses are current.
Qualifications & Experience
Must Haves:
BA/BSc/HND degree
2-5 years of experience in media relations, PR, communications, journalism, or related fields
Compelling experience at desk research—able to make sense of opportunities and leads within an opaque industry
Strong familiarity with traditional and non-traditional media and content creators in the United States
Experience with AI tools for research, writing, and workflow automation
Exceptional project management skills, with a demonstrated ability to manage multiple workflows simultaneously
Excellent verbal and written skills, with a focus on concise and intentional communication
Ability to “think” like a journalist—telling a compelling story and communicating why it matters without setting off their PR alarm
Comfort with systems and tools—Airtable and other CRMs—and a disposition toward building better workflows, not just following existing ones
Nice to Haves:
Familiarity with Substack, podcasts, and YouTube—especially voices in EA, tech, and finance
Experience in influencer campaigns and partnerships
Familiarity with traditional and new media in European and Middle Eastern markets
Based in a major journalist & thought leader hub for in-person meetings (e.g., Nairobi, NYC, SF, London, DC, LA, Chicago, Boston, Austin, Amsterdam, etc.)
